This & That

In the last two weeks or so--

• Maren discovered how to roll from back to tummy, and has started scooting backwards to get places.  Inevitably, she gets stuck and frustrated, but she is on the move.
• Maren speaks!  She now says "da-da", and an occasional "ba".  She is very vocal, and hollers as loud--or louder--than Ezra.
• Maren started rice cereal.  (My baby is growing up too fast!)  If I don't give her cereal before bed, she wakes up hungry in the middle of the night.  
• Ezra conquered the crib.  He now climbs in and out with ease.  He also figured out doorknobs.  In one fell swoop, he disrupted our well-established bed-time, nap-time, and time-out set-up.  So, we re-grouped.  Ezra's crib was converted to a toddler bed, I made him a kid tent to make nap-time more fun, and put a door knob lock on the inside of his door.   Not much I can do about Maren's crib, though, he climbs into her bed constantly.
• Ezra has clothing issues.  Most every day he removes pants, shirt, socks, and diaper--sometimes all at once, sometimes one article over a period of time--and roams naked.  Often, this new behavior coincides with wanting to try to use the potty.  Unfortunately, several visitors picked rather inopportune times to drop in, and were greeted by my naked toddler.
• Ezra has a heightened love of water.  He has become obsessive about hand washing, begs to wash the dishes, and wants to take a shower or a bath (or both) many times a day.
• Bear has developed a personality disorder.  In any given day, Bear becomes a tiger roaming the jungle, a camel taking Ezra to Egypt, Grandma's black cat (named Ben), a baby who just learned to roll over, a puppy who likes to lick faces, the whale who ate Jonah, or Andrew (as in, Andrew, one of Jesus' apostles), etc.  Ezra's imagination is fascinating!       
• Ezra said this to me: "Mommy, come, come, quick like a bunny, I need a drink right now."  Umm, yea...the "quick like a bunny" bit is a mommy phrase, coming back to bite me.